[tigerthelion]

ok..now i'm starting to think the canucks DON'T want to make they playoffs...

Yeah, I think I agree with that statement. After the last few games and Naslund, Bertuzzi, Morrison completely disappearing, I'm having my doubts as to whether the Nucks will even make it into the playoffs. The Ducks did them a favour by trading Carney and the Ducks have a good shot at knocking Vancouver out of the playoffs. The Sedins and Carter are the only forwards showing up to play and Auld is good but he's no Brodeur and can't steal too many games during a season. Naslund was supposed to be rested and ready after the Olympic break but he's been awful lately.

[BuffaloHipFan]

Sabres better take out the Caps tonight. It's crap teams like Washington and Florida that give us a let down. Miller better get his mojo back. Caps have been scoring as of late, but so have we.

[ryan93]

Although i do agree that both Detroit and Nashville have benefitted from getting to play Chicago, Columbus (who are actually really good their last 30 games or so), and St.Louis 8 times this season...but i still think they are the best team in the league. I'm not completely sold on them in the playoffs just yet though, as they've had some disappointing showings since the '02 Cup, and we'll have to wait & see how Legace performs.

Another team which is having yet another fantastic season which i don't think has been given enough credit are the Dallas Stars. Same goes for Jason Arnott, who's been awesome this year.

It's a pretty big night standing wise tonight, in the East Toronto and Tampa Bay are both in action, while in the West Edmonton, Vancouver and Los Angeles all play.
The Rangers are in Carolina tonight to take on the Hurricanes, and to be honest i'm a little nervous. The Rangers have lost 5 and a row and there offense has gone awol since the Olympic break.

[cferneyh]

Although i do agree that both Detroit and Nashville have benefitted from getting to play Chicago, Columbus (who are actually really good their last 30 games or so), and St.Louis 8 times this season...but i still think they are the best team in the league.

I was curious to see how they have done against those teams:

Columbus: 5-0.
Chicago: 6-0.
StL: 3-1.

So they are 14-1 against those bottom feeders for a .933 winning percentage and 28 of a possible 30 points. Wow. They should win the Presidents Trophy, but I don't think they deserve it given their creampuff schedule compared to the teams that play in the Northwest or Pacific.

[ryan93]

I just looked at the Preds stats, they are 5-1-1 against Columbus, 5-1 against Chicago, and 4-0 against the Blues....so they are 14-2-1 against those 3 teams, so yeah, they've taken advantage of their division as well.

[cferneyh]

I just looked at the Preds stats, they are 5-1-1 against Columbus, 5-1 against Chicago, and 4-0 against the Blues....so they are 14-2-1 against those 3 teams, so yeah, they've taken advantage of their division as well.

So what's your point? I wasn't arguing that the Preds weren't taking advantage of the easy sked, I was arguing that Detroit's point totals are inflated relative to teams that play in tougher divisions.

If you think the Wings are the best team in the league, cool. I just happen to think that while they are good, I wonder how they would do in a real division.

[opiated]

ok..now i'm starting to think the canucks DON'T want to make they playoffs...

Yeah, I think I agree with that statement. After the last few games and Naslund, Bertuzzi, Morrison completely disappearing, I'm having my doubts as to whether the Nucks will even make it into the playoffs. The Ducks did them a favour by trading Carney and the Ducks have a good shot at knocking Vancouver out of the playoffs. The Sedins and Carter are the only forwards showing up to play and Auld is good but he's no Brodeur and can't steal too many games during a season. Naslund was supposed to be rested and ready after the Olympic break but he's been awful lately.

and just last week you doubted me... :wink: ..auld is the least of our problems..he's one of only 4 reasons we're still in a playoff hunt..the other 3 being the "brother" line...

[cferneyh]

ok..now i'm starting to think the canucks DON'T want to make they playoffs...

Yeah, I think I agree with that statement. After the last few games and Naslund, Bertuzzi, Morrison completely disappearing, I'm having my doubts as to whether the Nucks will even make it into the playoffs. The Ducks did them a favour by trading Carney and the Ducks have a good shot at knocking Vancouver out of the playoffs. The Sedins and Carter are the only forwards showing up to play and Auld is good but he's no Brodeur and can't steal too many games during a season. Naslund was supposed to be rested and ready after the Olympic break but he's been awful lately.

and just last week you doubted me... :wink: ..auld is the least of our problems..he's one of only 4 reasons we're still in a playoff hunt..the other 3 being the "brother" line...

So which one of you two mailed the "mysterious" white powder to Bertuzzi? :lol:

[opiated]

lol..that's too funny..now all his supporters will have another excuse for his shitty play

[cferneyh]

lol..that's too funny..now all his supporters will have another excuse for his shitty play

I love the Bertuzzi apologists. I remember when his poor play after his big season was because of the stress of trying to get a contract done. Then it was the stress of living up to the contract. Then it was not having played for so long. Now its the Moore lawsuit.

I think he's got more excuses than money. It's too bad really. I remember when he first got traded to Vancouver I loved to watch his style of play. But he just doesn't seem to play with the same drive anymore.

[direwolf74]

I think the Detroit Red Wings will win the Presidents Trophy, they are unreal. IMO by far the best team in the NHL...whether or not they'll go all the way in the playoffs though, i'm not sure (i honestly have no clue who i think will win). Mathieu Schneider & Nick Lidstrom are both having Norris-like seasons, Zetterberg & Datsyuk continue to evolve into superstars (they're probably already there), Brendan Shanahan is scoring at will once again & is pace for another 40 goal season, Steve Yzerman's icetime continues to rise as the playoffs near and he's playing better and better...then there's Robert Lang, a pair of 20+ goal scorers in ex-Ranger Mikael Samuelsson and Tomas Holmstrom, Jason Williams is having a career year, the duo of Kris Draper and Kirk Maltby, an ageless Chris Chelsios, etc. And then you have Manny Legace proving his critics wrong with wonderful season in goal...this team is extremely deep and will be very tough to beat.

The Wings are obviously a solid team, but they don't scare me. Calgary is 2-1 against them so far this year, and if we face them in the playoffs I'm not the least bit concerned. There are only 2 teams in the West that scare the shit out of me, and that's Dallas and Nashville. The Preds totally have our number this year, and that worries me. We did finally get our first win against Dallas a few nights ago 1-0, and the Flames played very well, but if it weren't for Kipper's superhuman goaltending, it would've been a different story. Those Stars are one hell of a team.

[tigerthelion]

lol..that's too funny..now all his supporters will have another excuse for his shitty play

I love the Bertuzzi apologists. I remember when his poor play after his big season was because of the stress of trying to get a contract done. Then it was the stress of living up to the contract. Then it was not having played for so long. Now its the Moore lawsuit.

I think he's got more excuses than money. It's too bad really. I remember when he first got traded to Vancouver I loved to watch his style of play. But he just doesn't seem to play with the same drive anymore.

Yep. He was dominant at one time but that was short lived. He just floats too much now. I think he's mailing it in because I find it difficult to believe he is playing up to his maximum capabilities. The effort isn't there.I mean, even when he isn't scoring he should at least be able to impact games with his physical play but that's non-existant. I've known for the last two years that Morrison was overrated but I kind of banked on Naslund being his usual self and HOPED that Bertuzzi could be very good. Too bad. :roll:

[BuffaloHipFan]

Sabres just can't catch Ottawa. Still 2 points behind. I guess the only way to catch them is to beat them straight up.

[ryan93]

I was just saying that Nashville is also taking advantage of playing a very week division. I don't like how the schedule is set up at all this season, it's a definite advantage to teams like Detroit and Nashville, whom get to play 3 of the worst teams in the league 24 times each. I agree with you when you say their point total is inflated from playing those such teams, and i was just supporting your statement i guess more than anything. Even so though, i still really like the Wings this season.

The Rangers lost yet again tonight, that's 6 in a row. It's not that they are playing overly bad though, as they've been very close in every game...

Lost 2-1 to Jersey
Lost 2-1 to Carolina
Lost 3-2 to Atlanta in a shootout
Lost 1-0 to Montreal
Lost 3-2 to Atlanta in overtime
Lost 5-3 to Carolina...was 4-3 but Stillman scored an empty netter

Lately they haven't been able to put the puck in the net, despite getting stellar goaltending from Henrik Lundqvist since the Olympics. Weekes got the start tonight and it was the first time the Rangers had given up more than 2 goals in regulation since January 16th, although Weekes didn't play too bad. The Rangers were able to throw 44 shots at Martin Gerber, but much like Huet a few nights ago, he was the difference. I'm really starting to dislike Gerber, he stopped 38 of 39 Ranger shots last Monday, killed them again tonight...then there was also that whole Canada/Switzerland thing.

Doug Weight was awesome for Carolina tonight.

[ryan93]

I see Daniel Briere had 4 points tonight. He hasn't missed a beat since returning, and it's too bad really that he had to get hurt because he's playing incredible this year and would have some impressive stats if he had been healthy all season. As it is now he's has 39 points (including 19 goals) in 32 games.

The Leafs had a big shootout win tonight. Although the playoffs are still a longshot, they are playing a lot better and you never now. They are only 5 points back of Montreal now, and remember Toronto/Montreal play each other twice more. Buffalo will have a big say in the Leafs hopes though, they play each other 4 more times. Tampa Bay lost again tonight as well, a heartbreaker to the Sens with Alfie scoring the winner with literally seconds left on the clock.